Members of the European Parliament take part in a voting session at the European Parliament in Strasbourg (Reuters / Vincent Kessler) / Reuters

Despite global efforts to curb copyright infringement, the temptation to use BitTorrent sites to download free movies and TV shows is too strong for employees in the EU Parliament, the Vatican, the US House of Representatives, and some Hollywood studios.

The new information was revealed by TorrentFreak, which used a
tracking outfit called ScanEye to identify those illegally
downloading files in some rather surprising places.

The website reported that EU Parliament employees have shown keen
interest in downloading pirated movies and TV shows while at
work. Dozens of recent “hits” entered from EU Parliament IP
addresses on several BitTorrent trackers revealed that employees
have downloaded pirated versions of new movies such as ‘Elysium’
and ‘Monsters vs. Aliens.’ They also appear to be fans of classic
flicks such as ‘The Ten Commandments,’ as well as popular
television shows such as ‘Breaking Bad.’

The same illegal activity also made its way into the Vatican,
with movies such as ‘Billy Elliot’ being downloaded along with TV
series such as ‘Camp.’

Even some Hollywood studios - including Paramount Pictures - made
it on the list, with employees illegally downloading ‘Shame’ and
‘Mad Men.’

BitTorrent downloads also took place from inside the US House of
Representatives. Television drama ‘Sons of Anarchy’ was
downloaded from the premises, although TorrentFreak did note that
fewer hits came from the House in 2013 than in previous years.

This comes even despite US lawmakers’ efforts to crack down on
copyright infringement by introducing the Stop Online Piracy Act
(SOPA) in October 2011. The act proposed to broaden the
government’s right to fight online copyright infringement and the
trading of counterfeit goods.

The proposal included the introduction of court orders to ban
advertising networks and payment facilities from doing business
with infringing websites. It also aimed to prohibit search
engines from linking to such websites, and requested that ISPs
block access to the websites.

Many internet users and organizations heavily criticized the
proposal. On January 18, 2012, more than 7,000 websites -
including Wikipedia, Reddit, and Google - took part in an
internet blackout to protest against SOPA. The act was shelved
indefinitely just days after the action. The House Judiciary
Committee eventually postponed
consideration of the legislation.

The fight against illegal downloads continues across the globe.
The world’s biggest torrent site, The Pirate Bay, has repeatedly
been forced to change its domain due to multiple terminations of
its former web addresses.

In November, the Supreme Court of Belgium ordered
ISPs throughout the nation to begin proactive efforts to search
and censor proxy services for The Pirate Bay.

Earlier this month – just one day after The Pirate Bay moved its
domain to Guyana – the website was informed that it was being
“immediately suspended.” The site then chose to move to
Sweden’s .SE domain, which it initially left in the first place,
following legal threats.